JohnJayREC Awarded $18M in Contracts to Support the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice

In 2017, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) engaged the assistance of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (JohnJayREC) to support two initiatives focused on the safety and well-being of New York City neighborhoods.

In 2017, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) provided $18 million in funding to engage the assistance of the John Jay College Research and Evaluation Center (JohnJayREC). The Center’s work supports two initiatives focused on the safety and well-being of New York City neighborhoods.

The Research and Evaluation Center is helping MOCJ to carry out an evaluation of Project Fast Track, a mayoral initiative announced in January 2016. The project is designed to drive down levels of gun violence in New York City through a targeted, system-wide focus on individuals involved in firearm violence. Researchers at John Jay College are measuring the implementation of the strategy and analyzing its effects on policing, court operations and overall community safety.

Photo from “The Trace.”

JohnJayREC is also assisting MOCJ with the implementation and evaluation of the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety (MAP), a comprehensive mayoral initiative designed to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer in and around 15 housing developments operated by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) that accounted for 20 percent of all violent crime in public housing in 2014.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Shola Olatoye, Chair, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), meet with NYCHA residents in 2016, Leticia Barboza/NYCHA. Photo from Medium.

MAP enhances coordination between the New York City Police Department, NYCHA, City service agencies and public housing residents to address physical, economic, and social conditions to create safe and strong neighborhoods in partnership with the people who live in them by building collaborative problem-solving approaches with residents and police, expanding access to youth employment, improving the security of NYCHA buildings and related infrastructure, and creating routine and sustainable ways for residents to work with City officials to monitor and improve public safety in NYCHA developments and their surrounding neighborhoods.